Do older tourists to Bulgarian coastal resorts (Sunny Beach) Coursework

Do older tourists to Bulgarian coastal resorts (Sunny Beach) participate in more varied activities than their younger counterparts do - Coursework Example Sunny beach has is full of varied facilities like shopping malls, aqua parks, swimming pools, parks, hotels, and pedestrian roads. These facilities provide social amenities to the visiting tourists. While working on our primary research in Sunny Beach, the research identified many activities that people do there e.g. water skiing, swimming, wakeboarding, spa in recreational facilities like hotels, shopping, cycling, working out in fitness center, among others. A team of five student researchers conducted the research on 12 and 13 January 2012. The researching student team did a survey using questionnaires, tabulated the collected data, and made their observation for the research.Climatic factors usually influence tourism activities. Usually, tourist like going for summer holidays, taking a break from adverse weather conditions back in their homeland. The location of Sunny Beach on the Bulgarian map (Figure 2) indicates that it is on the eastern part of Bulgaria, which is a coast of w estern side of the Black sea. The map shows a strategic location for Sunny Beach because it boarders countries like Greece, Turkey, and Russia etc. Moreover, it is very important to look at price range in Sunny beach in Bulgaria. Many tourists find the prices competitive and would wish to leverage on the low prices compared to other black sea resorts like Varna, Bodrumq, Batumi and, Sochi among others. Hypothesis: a) Elderly people (tourists) participate in many activities than younger people do. The primary focus is the amount of activities not how intensively they do it. b) Male tourists participate in more activities than female tourists do. c) Most tourists visiting Sunny Beach are below sixty five years Aim: The aim was to evaluate the hypothesis with a focus on the topic of the field study. Further, to relate the research report with geographical aspects such as demographic distribution, climatic conditions, and tourism. Methods of investigation: A team of five students interv iewed various tourists in various hotels along the Sunny Beach. The intention of the field study was to evaluate the participation of tourists in various activities. This method of investigation gave us primary information, which reflects the real picture of events taking place in the Sunny Beach. The information collected would help in evaluating the hypothesis of the study. Questionnaire development: Factors such as objective of research, uniformity of the data, population of the research area, area of study (study topics), and time influenced the choice of study method (Jackson 59). In order to come up with uniform study, the five students researching decided to use a questionnaire. Questionnaires provides object questions of the study, saves time and provides a

ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ARGUMENTATIVE - Research Paper Example However, while everyone acknowledges that initiatives need to be taken to significantly decrease gun violence, the methods of doing so have caused a rift between Americans. Narration The concept of gun control, which â€Å"refers to any action taken by federal and state governments to regulate the purchase, safety, and use of firearms† (Saxton & Skinner 1), has been a political debate for many decades. Politicians have been trying to determine if citizens are obtaining guns in ways that could be considered reckless toward the safety of society. In the past two decades, though, with more people than ever being affected by gun violence, and gun violence going from an occasional terrible event to daily headlines on various news channels throughout the United States (Hunt 1), the debate of gun control has moved into the public. With the ease at which it seems people are able to purchase handguns and assault weapons, there has been a rush to create rigorous regulations to ensure th at these objects do not end up in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, the attempts to decrease gun violence by proposing the moderation and control of firearms have caused more controversy than beneficial solutions to this issue. There are potentially three sides to the gun control debate: the neutral, the proponents, and the opponents. Those that have taken a neutral stance concede that gun violence has increased significantly due to the overwhelming ease at which people can purchase handguns and assault weapons, and while certain measures should be taken to prevent the wrong people from purchasing guns, these individuals do not feel that citizens should be completely disarmed. Proponents of gun control feel that guns do not belong at all in the hands of private citizens, and that only police officers and military men and women should have access to firearms. The opponents of gun control, also acknowledging that measures need to be laid out to decrease gun violence, believe that gun ow nership is not just â€Å"our right as per the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution† (Burton 1), but a requirement to guarantee our own safety against criminals. Partition There is no question that gun violence needs to be deterred in America. Very seldom does a day go by anymore that does not end in multiple gun-related deaths. However, placing extreme restrictions on guns will only prove to be more dangerous as doing so would prevent citizens from protecting themselves and their families should they ever be confronted with a dangerous individual or group (Worsnop 507). Strict gun control is not the answer to putting an end to gun violence, but making sure that obedient citizens have the means to protect themselves against those on the other side of the law. By restricting and controlling firearms, honest citizens are being punished, the ability to self-protect is being taken away, and the restrictions will not prevent criminals from purchasing firearms to use as weapons. Argument and Refutation Those that are opposed to gun control make the argument that they are being punished as a result of the dangerous actions of criminals. The criminals are the ones who are misusing and taking advantage of our Constitutional right to own firearms, using them for robbing businesses and individuals, and for causing harm to their enemies and, more often than not, to innocent bystanders. Many criminals do not even

Server-side scripting of web pages part 2 Essay Example for Free

Server-side scripting of web pages part 2 Essay

The real success factors on projects

The real success factors on projects INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper, I will discuss Terry Cooke-Davies article on ‘The â€Å"real† success factors on projects'(Cooke-Davies,2002). In his article, Cooke-Davies identifies 12 factors critical in ensuring the successful projects. Cooke-Davies starts by differentiating between successful projects, successful project management, and consistently successful projects. In addition, he argued on the existence of a relationship between project management and operations management and then proposed how successful projects aligns with corporate success. Furthermore, he concludes by asserting the role people have to play in successfully delivering projects. After summarizing Cooke-Davies article, I will agree with the results of his research in identifying the 12 factors critical for project success and on the linkage between project management and operations management; but I will disagree with the research methodology especially with respect to the small sample size , and the extrapolation of this data to apply to worldwide projects. I will also argue that the writer did not expatiate on the critical role people in delivering projects. I will conclude by reappraising the role of this article in bridging our current gap in knowledge on factors relevant for project success. MAIN REVIEW   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Terry Cooke-Davies in Sections 1 and 2 of this article, the reasons for project failure can be adduced to be the inadequate knowledge on the critical factors that lead to successful projects. Cooke-Davies argument is that prior to this research, the information available on the factors that lead to project success answered one question only which is â€Å"what factors determine a successful project?†. He asserted that in order to manage projects successfully, we need to answer three questions i.e. â€Å"what factors are critical to project management success?†, â€Å"what factors are critical to individual project success?†, â€Å"what factors lead to consistently successful projects?†. I will argue a similar view to that of Terry-Cooke here. It has been acknowledged that for projects to succeed, certain specific critical factors must be met. Researchers have acknowledged the critical role of specific factors to a projects success or failure and they also proposed that the reasons projects fail is as a result of an inability to thoroughly identify those specific factors critical to project success. The question then is What is a successful project?, What factors define a successful project?; I would suggest that the definition of a successful project will vary due to the fact that the different project stakeholders have individual interpretations of what makes project success. Along the lines of Cooke-Davies, I am arguing for a structured approach to identifying factors relevant to project success by grouping this factors into categories based on those critical for project management success, individual successful projects and consistently successful projects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Section 3 focuses on the factors critical for project management success and the research methodology used in deriving the identified factors. Cooke-Davies starts by analyzing the cost and schedule performance data of 136 projects executed in Europe in the mid to late 1990s by 23 companies. From Cooke-Davies point of view, there is a correlation between the projects that where not completed on schedule and their budget overrun. The upshot of Cooke-Davies argument is that there are eight specific factors that contribute to the ability/ inability of a project to meet schedule and budget targets. He suggested that of these eight factors, six factors pertain specifically to improvement in schedule performance while two factors pertain specifically to improvement in budget performance. Cooke-Davies data leads him to the conclusion in this section that the overall strength of implementation of these identified eight factors on a project leads to an overall improvement i n the cost and schedule fundamentals of the project. I agree with Cooke-Davies in so far as the data analysis and results are concerned. The expert use of statistical tools e.g. Confidence Interval(CI), and a P value of 0.0005 helps to highlight the overwhelming statistical significance between budget and schedule fundamentals. The important and valid point Cooke-Davies suggests in this section is the relationship between budget overrun and schedule delay for a project. My disagreement with Cooke-Davies pertains to the extrapolation of this data to projects worldwide. Cooke-Davies depends on the assumption that the data derived from the sample size of 136 projects executed mainly in Europe can be extended to apply to projects worldwide. He fails to acknowledge the key role environmental factors in certain regions of the world e.g. Africa play in determining project management success. I also wish to highlight the non-inclusion of any projects been managed in Africa as a part of the resource pool of this research. This vital omission raises a pertinent question which is; Can we really extrapolate the findings of this research to apply worldwide when we have ignored data from a one continent?; the argument I am proposing for this section is that this data only pertains to projects been managed in the regions of the world where the data is derived from and cannot be extended to include those regions that are not a part of the resource pool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooke-Davies starts section 4 by asserting the existence of a gap between the traditional goals of project success(cost, quality, time) and the non-traditional goals such as the relevance of the project deliverable to the stakeholders. In a bid to bridge this identified gap, he argues for the use of a technique such as benefits management to help the stakeholders derive the full value from the project deliverable. Furthermore, he clarifies the distinction between the role of the project management team in delivering the project deliverable and the role of the functional management team in using the project deliverable to bring the stakeholder expectations to reality; he then proposes that the latter step is much more difficult than the former. He concludes this section by arguing that a good working relationship between the project management team and the functional management team is a critical factor in ensuring project success. The argument I wish to put forwar d here is completely in agreement with Cooke-Davies on the key concept of benefits delivery. In the past, project managers have focussed solely on delivering projects on time, budget, and at the right quality without an equal emphasis on how the project deliverable will meet the expectations of the stakeholders. In this light, I share the view of Cooke-Davies which is that a project cannot be successful unless the expectations of the stakeholders are met. Hence it is essential for the benefits management methodology to be used in translating the project deliverables to stakeholder reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In section 5, Cooke-Davies proposes how to achieve consistently successful projects. He argues on how consistently successful projects aligns with corporate success and he proposes three factors that are critical in ensuring consistently successful projects in an organization. Cooke-Daviess main argument in this section is the existence of a viscous cycle between projects that are consistently successful and improved corporate performance; his conclusion seems to be that organizations that deploy project management processes as part of their corporate culture tend to have a much more improved corporate performance. Along the lines of Cooke-Davies, I am arguing that the use of management techniques such as management by projects(MBP) in which all organizational goals are defined as projects greatly helps in ensuring consistently successful projects, and if these projects are managed in a coordinated way in line with organizational goals, it will invariably lead to improved organizational performance. My point of view is that the inculcation of a projectized organizational structure helps in the achievement of consistently successful projects. The corporate strategy of a projectized organizational structure is a focus towards ensuring that all organizational goals are managed like projects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In section six, Cooke-Davies uses different project industries to argue on the existence of a relationship between successful projects and corporate success. He argues on how a successful/unsuccessful project can impact directly or indirectly on a corporate bottom-line. He concludes by proposing that the sustainability of a corporate organization depends largely on its bottom-line. Following from Cooke-Davies valid point, I am proposing a synergy between project management and value management in order to ensure long-term corporate success. This view has long been corroborated by researchers on the translation of project success to corporate success. The bottom-line is that effectively defining what the contribution of a project is to an organization is critical in the translation of the project deliverable to organizational benefits. This whole cycle of project and value management is iterative throughout the lifecycle of the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Section 7 of Cooke-Daviess work focuses on the people aspect of project management. He acknowledges the role people have to play in project success, and then he argues that the human factors of project management cannot be singled out as a single factor of its own but is embedded in each of the identified twelve success factors. Furthermore, he concludes that the goals of the research is on how project teams achieve results and not on what motivates the project team to achieve results. Inasmuch as I agree with Cooke-Davies valid point on the critical role of the people in successful projects, it is indeed a â€Å"strange omission† that he left out the human aspects of projects till the end of his article. I would like to espouse the fact that in order to achieve project success, specific human resources strategies need to be in place. Cooke-Davies view is based on the assumption that the people are somehow integrated into the process of attaining project su ccess; but he did not explicitly define the critical role people play in attainment of project success. In contrast to Cooke-Davies view, I wish to propose that the human factor in project success is so important that it has to be singled out as an independent factor of its own. I argue that it cannot be embedded into the twelve identified success factors because of a tendency for it to be overlooked by an independent reviewer. The relegation of the human aspects of projects to the last section of this article seems to reveal a bias of the writer for the process aspects of project success with little emphasis on the critical role of people in ensuring the success of the process. CONCLUSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooke-Davies article helps greatly in shedding more light on the factors relevant for project success by highlighting three perspectives of what makes a successful project. He identified eight factors relevant for project management success, one factor relevant for project success, and three factors relevant to achieving consistently successful projects. Furthermore, he argued on the relationship between project success and corporate success; and then he shows how successful projects directly or indirectly impact on different project industries. He then concluded by proposing that the role people play in projects is embedded into each of the identified twelve factors. Inasmuch as I share Cooke-Davies view on the factors relevant to project success as well as the relationship between projects and corporate bottom-line; I wish to differ on the extrapolation of this research findings to regions of the world that are not represented in the research pool of data. I wis h to also highlight the fact that even when viewed from the perspective of the regions where the research samples where derived from, the sample size is so small for it to be fully indicative of the factors that could affect project success in those regions. I would also like to argue that people are so critical in projects that the human factor of project success should occur as an independent factor. Inasmuch as the article represents an excellent effort by Cooke-Davies to fill possible gaps in our understanding of what makes a successful project; more work still needs to be done using a larger sample size which should be a true representative of all the regions of the world. ASSIGNMENT APPENDIX CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR PROJECTS ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES Cooke-Davies, T(2002) ‘The â€Å"real† success factors on projects. International journal of project management, Vol.20, pp.185-190. In this article, the author drawing extensively from his PhD dissertation and statistical data obtained from a survey of 136 European projects argued that there are 12 factors essential for project success. The author starts by asserting that the reason why this factors have not been properly identified before now is because of the inability to accurately define what project success means; furthermore, the author proposed a three pronged definition of project success. In subsequent sections, the author highlights the specific factors responsible for the success of each of the three different perspectives of project success. The author concludes by acknowledging ‘albeit belatedly that the people aspects of project success is embedded within each of the aforementioned factors. This work is a commendable attempt to compartmentalize the factors responsible for project success into three different perspectives. My point of difference from this work is in terms of the small sample fr om which the authors data is derived from. In addition, I argue that leaving the people aspects of project success to the last section may seem to reveal a bias by the author for process-focused project management rather than people-focused project management. Dvir, D. Lipovetsky, S. Shenhar, A. Tishler, A.(1998) ‘In search of project classification: a non-universal approach to project success factors. Research policy, Vol.27, pp.915-935. In this article, the authors draw their data from Israeli defence projects completed in the 1980s to propose an objective classification of project types and also the specific factors that may affect the success of projects. The authors proposed the use of the multivariate analytical technique to compare the impact of specific variables derived from a particular data set on other variables in other to arrive at the possible effects of identified potential factors on the success of projects. The authors argument is that the use of the multivariate technique produced results that shows how a wide range of factors affect project success. Furthermore, the authors argued that there is no universality in the factors that affect project success hence project managers must define the factors that relate to their particular projects. The authors assert in their conclusion that the use of the multivariate analytical technique allows for the results of this research to be extrapolated to other projects. My argument is that the authors in their conclusion seem to contradict themselves because they initially argued that success factors are project specific but then conclude by proposing the usefulness of their work for all projects. Inasmuch as I agree with the objectiveness of the multivariate technique used here, I wish to disagree with the assumption of the authors in extrapolating their findings to other projects. Soja, P(2006) ‘Success factors in ERP systems implementations: Lessons from practise. Journal of Enterprise information management, Vol.19, Nos.4, pp.418-433 In this article, the author drawing extensively from data derived from respondents involved in ERP systems and his own experience in the business world argues that there are certain factors that determine the success of ERP systems. The authors methodology involved the initial identification of potential factors that could affect the outcome of ERP projects. Furthermore, the aforementioned factors where then subjected to a survey among practitioners of ERP systems to determine the relative importance of each factor and the role of each factor in determining project outcome. The results was then statistically analyzed to determine the most important factors that could determine the success of ERP projects. The authors conclusion seems to be that the importance of the identified success factors vary depending on the type of project and its duration. Sojas argument has merit and the conclusion sheds more light on the ‘foggy area of the factors that could lead to successful project outcomes. My argument against Soja is with respect to the subjective technique deployed to identify the initial potential factors. I propose that a much more objective potential factors can be arrived at from a survey of the respondents themselves rather than relying purely on the literature review. Furthermore, based on the small sample size used for this research, it will be hasty for us to extrapolate the conclusion arrived at to all ERP projects. Segalla, M(1998) ‘Factors for the success or failure of international teams: The special case of international research projects. Journal of Managerial psychology, Vol.13, Nos.3/4, pp.133-136. The author of this article proposes that inability to identify specific project requirements determines the success or failure of international research projects. In addition, the author argues that the presence or absence of certain success factors play a role in defining how successful an international research project will be. The author identifies three requirements and four factors that need to be met before an international research project can be deemed to be successful. In his conclusion, the author asserts the vital role teams play in achieving project success with an emphasis on international research projects and recommends that the success bottom line for researchers is to â€Å"Go find a team†. Along the lines of Segalla, I am also suggesting that just like any other project, certain factors need to be in place to ensure the success of international research projects. Furthermore, identification and definition of the requirements of a project plays a key role in p roject success. I also agree with the authors assertion on the vital role teams play in achieving international research project success as compared to individual work by researchers. Trent, J.R(2003) ‘Planning to use work teams effectively. Team performance management: An international journal. Vol.9, Nos.3/4, pp.50-58. In this article, the author, an associate professor of management, evaluates data derived from literature review, practical evidence derived from sampling, and his own personal experience, to argue that certain factors are essential for ensuring the success of teams. The author compartmentalizes the different stages of the team planning process and identifies various factors that are essential for the success of each stage. In his conclusion, the author seems to acknowledge that there is no factor that can be said to guarantee the success of a team; he proposes that the presence of these identified factors will only help in promoting the ability of a team to achieve success. This article reflects another attempt by an academic to identify the factors that could lead to successful teams and invariably successful projects. The pursuit of these success factors has been likened to that of the ‘Holy Grail, and this work represents an addition to the plethora of research done on â₠¬Ëœwhat makes project teams work?. My main point of disagreement with this work rests on the conclusion of the author in which he seems to contradict himself by acknowledging that these factors do not guarantee successful teams. The question then is, what is the relevance of this work if its application does not guarantee successful teams? That answer to that question is ultimately left for the readers to decide.

Grammar Should be Secondary for Composition Teachers Essay -- informati

I have a knack for creating a series of run-on sentences and calling them an essay. I have a knack for beginning sentences with And or But. I also have a writing degree. I still have not mastered the use of the comma and somehow the Academy granted me that little piece of paper anyway. You, reader, may be wondering my point. My point is this: that despite my ill-formed paragraphs and run-on sentences I have existed and prospered within the formal writing environment. And so, I was elated to read Patrick Hartwell’s essay that contests that teaching grammar has a negligible effect on the development of a student writer (183). Clearly, there are different types of grammar, which Hartwell distinguishes in his essay. Borrowing from Francis’ â€Å"The Three Meanings of Grammar,† and his lengthy definition of grammar in three parts, Hartwell extends to the five categories of grammar. In dissecting grammar, Hartwell divides and conquers the argument that formal grammatical training is of great use to a developing writer. Instead, Hartwell sees grammar as a recognition tool, a way to keep the writer and reader on the same page. It is a tool of orientation rather than a prerequisite for â€Å"good writing.† Harvey Davis, an author I found by way of Hartwell’s end-notes, makes a great distinction between the necessity of grammar texts for educators and students. In his book, Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered, Daniels recognizes that grammar books, â€Å"while they may be good for the publishing business, and may comfort anxious teachers, they are unlikely to help students much† (241). Books devoted to the teaching of grammar or the integration of grammar into writing programs simply create names for lessons and rules alread... ...n of all threads of thought, with a process of shaping afterwards. Grammar lay waiting for the guillotine in the arena of composition. The main concern of any composition teacher, as well as his students, should be the production of writing. Since the rules are so flexible and easily changed for matters of style, grammar should be an afterthought, rather than a pre-writing tool. To take writing time away from our students and force them to familiarize themselves with formal grammar does them a disservice. Bibliography Daniels, Harvey. Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered. Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Hartwell, Patrick. â€Å"Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.† Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. ed. Victor Villanueva, Jr. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997. 183-212 Grammar Should be Secondary for Composition Teachers Essay -- informati I have a knack for creating a series of run-on sentences and calling them an essay. I have a knack for beginning sentences with And or But. I also have a writing degree. I still have not mastered the use of the comma and somehow the Academy granted me that little piece of paper anyway. You, reader, may be wondering my point. My point is this: that despite my ill-formed paragraphs and run-on sentences I have existed and prospered within the formal writing environment. And so, I was elated to read Patrick Hartwell’s essay that contests that teaching grammar has a negligible effect on the development of a student writer (183). Clearly, there are different types of grammar, which Hartwell distinguishes in his essay. Borrowing from Francis’ â€Å"The Three Meanings of Grammar,† and his lengthy definition of grammar in three parts, Hartwell extends to the five categories of grammar. In dissecting grammar, Hartwell divides and conquers the argument that formal grammatical training is of great use to a developing writer. Instead, Hartwell sees grammar as a recognition tool, a way to keep the writer and reader on the same page. It is a tool of orientation rather than a prerequisite for â€Å"good writing.† Harvey Davis, an author I found by way of Hartwell’s end-notes, makes a great distinction between the necessity of grammar texts for educators and students. In his book, Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered, Daniels recognizes that grammar books, â€Å"while they may be good for the publishing business, and may comfort anxious teachers, they are unlikely to help students much† (241). Books devoted to the teaching of grammar or the integration of grammar into writing programs simply create names for lessons and rules alread... ...n of all threads of thought, with a process of shaping afterwards. Grammar lay waiting for the guillotine in the arena of composition. The main concern of any composition teacher, as well as his students, should be the production of writing. Since the rules are so flexible and easily changed for matters of style, grammar should be an afterthought, rather than a pre-writing tool. To take writing time away from our students and force them to familiarize themselves with formal grammar does them a disservice. Bibliography Daniels, Harvey. Famous Last Words: The American Language Crisis Reconsidered. Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983. Hartwell, Patrick. â€Å"Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.† Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader. ed. Victor Villanueva, Jr. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997. 183-212

Stress Reduction - Music is the Best Medicine Essay -- Research Essays

Stress Reduction - Music is the Best Medicine Stress is something that I never really came across until college. In high school nothing really mattered to me, I was a very happy go lucky stress free child. I think I really took high school for granted though, I don’t think I took the time to sit down and think about my responsibilities and how they may affect my future. Instead I spent most of my time going out with friends after school and not coming home until late. My weekends were spent mostly drinking and sleeping. I guess I never had time for stress. I was always to busy having fun being a kid. As senior year came along I started dating my current girlfriend. She, unlike I, was very studious, had good grades, and was not much of a, â€Å"party on the weekend’s,† type of girl. I began to take plenty interest in her and we started hanging out a lot, almost to the point where I’d rarely ever see my friends. I began taking a lot more interest in my school work and even ran for student coun cil. As senior year went on I found my self getting much better grades than I had in the past, and I was starting to feel better about myself. I rarely drank on the weekends anymore and usually stayed in on school nights to do my homework. I also started to feel overwhelmed. It was a weird feeling like none other I felt before. This feeling was indeed stress. I started college in august of 2001. Ever since my first week here at IUP I’ve always felt stress; I can’t remember a time I haven’t. Living in the dorm was stressful enough not including classes, but it was also what gave me my chance to use my medicine, â€Å"music†. I found that every time I was stressed I could go to my computer and download a few songs, it was great. I pl... ...u can conclude that your hypothesis does in fact exist. College kids use music as an escape from reality because it makes them feel happy while in times of great physical and emotional stress. That’s definitely what I found out. I used the survey, interview and personal experience to help me prove this. Now, this is not to say that other things could not have been done. I could of used a experiment or a case study as well, which may have deemed different results. Of course my subjects were very limited being 10 but I also could have used larger amount of people. Maybe what I need to do now is research one of the facts I learned in order to narrow my thesis. The possibilities are endless; it’s all a matter of how interested I am in the subject to prove better, more accurate results, and also be able to see who else is prescribed to my musical stress medicine.

Walt Disney Analyses

Analysis of The Walt Disney`s Strategy PESTEL SWOT STRATEGIC ANALYSES â€Å"Fiscal 2011 was a great year financially and strategically, demonstrating the strength of our brands and businesses with record revenue, net income and earnings per share,† said Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger. â€Å"We are confident the Company is well-positioned to deliver long-term value for our shareholders with our focus on quality content, compelling uses of technology and global asset growth. † According to the PESTEL analysis, the Walt Disney Company has been shaped mainly with respect to social, economic and political.First, it is politically shaped because the government and lobby groups have an important role in establishing policies, requirements and competition rules. Furthermore, the local governmental rules are crucial in establishing foreign ownership for subsidiaries or business units. Alongside with the political factors, both the economic and social factors influence t he group`s profitability and activity because customers and economic conditions are closely related. For instance the financial crisis of 2007 brought serious economic downturns that affected most of the activities at Disney 11 parks.The group is also dependent on oil prices, inflation and interest rates that might affect exchange rates. Social trends influence the company strategic decisions, mainly due to demographic changes, attitudes or certain fashion cycles. According to PESTEL, technological factors decide the competitive actors in the industry because advances in technology shape manufacturing conditions and operations, can increase capacity and improve quality. Furthermore, the environmental factors affect the activity of the company due to weather conditions that can be negative for the park`s profitability, manufacturing prices and conditions. A SWOT analysisSTENGTHSIt is the largest media and entertainment company in the world and it owns 11 theme parks and various chann els Disney is one of the major Hollywood studios Disney employed 150,000 people An innovative development society: employees generate and implement ideas – fast transfer of knowledge and expertise across the marketsGlobal Standards are highly implemented and adopted Very popular brand around the globe: high brand awareness among the people through logo and popularity Strategy of differentiation with a very diversified portfolio Experience in international operations and developmentDisney has US $62, 497, 000, 000 assets Ranked 9th in the Top 100 Global Brands of 2011 | WEAKNESSESHigh operating costsInstability in decision making: change management due to unbalances among SBUsPoor management controllingSeasonality: park occupancyWorking conditions that are poor in the production fabricsNo good customer relationship management due to innovation that demands continuityThe target client is mostly children, no range of segmentationAccusation for sexual references in some of its an imations Different welfare groups protest: religion, animal (Disney Animal Kingdom)Poor management controllingReduces number of attractions: only 16 out of 11 parks. OPPORTUNITIESBusiness development for different segments and in developing marketsFollow the market trends and social onesPossibility of increase in the number of attractions due to a new segmentationReduction in Operating costsDisney Television Advertising and Disney Channel MusicDisney management and training schoolOnline development | TREATSSecurity difficulties in parks – treat of terrorismCope with the employee retentionAn increase in the competition in the industryIncrease in the competition due to technology advances and innovation both on domestic and international market Demand for innovation on the market Economic and Financial Crisis Wages and labor costs will increase | The SWOT analysis sheds light on the context of the Walt Disney Company. It focuses both on core features / competencies but also on the diversity of the corporation`s portfolio.The environment is highly competitive for the Walt Disney Company, but providing operations globally enables the existence of an efficiency related to the speed the information of knowledge travels around the company from unit to unit. This one of the most important features, and, thus strengths of the core competences Disney supports, because it reduces the operational costs. Thus, the company benefits from an intensive transfer of expertise across diverse markets. By being constantly up-dated with the new technologies and innovations and by disposing of an impressive amount of knowledge, the Walt Disney Company also benefits from continuous innovation. This is fostered also by the politics of the company that allows employees the direct participation in both generating and implementing new innovative solutions across businesses.Another important strength is the experience in international operations that sustains the brand awareness and enables the development of local knowledge, which defines synergies over strategic business units along with the existent learning curve. In terms of diversity, Disney covers a portfolio of various activities with a wide-ranging interest and this structuration protects the company from different conditions and instabilities on the markets, therefore a balanced portfolio provides security. Another important strength is the fact that Disney Corporation provides a really influent Media network that allows the company share and benefit from good image communication.For instance the ESPN Radio, the Disney Television Networks that increased group profits in the first quarter of 2011 due to strong advertising, the Toon Channel and many other entertaining shows that the group broadcasts. In terms of weaknesses, the most aggressive one is the seasonality among customers related to the objective of park occupancy, which is fulfilled only during holydays and special events. This pattern makes the activity in parks more or less dependent on the seasonality. Alongside with the seasonality, another important aspect is the unbalances that occur among its SBUs in terms of profits, cash flows and operating costs. Nevertheless, this is a cause of seasonality, but it also reflects the poor management controlling at the group level.The opportunities are very large at the size of a group as Disney Corporation and if the strategic decisions are respected the company can benefit from: new markets, increase in advertising (which is also sustained by the Segmented Results of 2011), differentiation in strategy and use of new developed technologies in order to maintain innovation. One of the main treats of Disney would be to cope with the employee retention which is strongly connected to the employee performance evaluation and the way according to which the Walt Disney Company aligns its goals / strategy with its employees` needs. As customers have a direct influence over company`s pro fitability, it is important to maintain a good communication flow and to built ways that could provide Disney strong analysis of customer satisfaction and feedback.